BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DR. ELY DRESBACH.
(By J. A. McFarland.)

     DR. ELY DRESBACH was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1802.  While he was yet quite young, his parents, David and Catherine Dresbach, removed with him to Pickaway county, Ohio, where they lived to a good old age.  As he grew up, young Dresbach was engaged, for some time, in the mercantile business, but this occupation was not to his taste, and at an early age he resolved to qualify himself to enter the medical profession.
     Unlike many young men, he was fortunate in choosing the vocation for which nature had eminently fitted him.
     He pursued his studies with great assiduity and success in the office, and under the direction of Dr. Luckey, an eminent physician of Circleville.  After the usual time, thus spent, he attended a course of lectures, at the Medical college of Ohio.
     He then decided on trying his fortune among the pioneers of northwestern Ohio, and finally settled down in Fort Ball; and after a few years he crossed over the river to Tiffin, the seat of justice for the newly organized county of Seneca.  His old office in Fort Ball, a small, one-story brick building, is still standing on Sandusky street, a few rods north of McNeal's storeroom.  The rooms he occupied as an office, for some years before his death, were on Washington street, where the Commercial bank now stands. 
     The winter of 1827-8 was passed in Cincinnati, attending a second course of lectures, at the close of which he took the degree of doctor of medicine.  Again in his chosen field of labor, his popularity went on increasing, till, at the end of the next decade, it was immense and well merited.
                                  "None knew him but to love him,
                                   None named him but to praise.
     And his name is still a household word in many of the old families of this county.
     In the practice of medicine and obstetrics the Doctor took rank with the foremost men of his time; in surgery his standing was only far, as he

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had no ambition to venture upon the more brilliant operations; these he turned over to such men as Mott and Mussy, who made surgery a specialty.
     Dr. Dresbach was of medium height, stoutly built, and a little inclined to corpulency.  His brain, though not very large, was active, with a good anterior development.  His temperament was sanguine; hair light auburn, eyes blue, nose large and slightly aquiline, neck short, chest and limbs well developed, and his whole appearance that of an elegant gentleman, as he was.  In the matter of dress, he was scrupulously careful, always wearing the finest and most fashionable garments.  His kind, courteous, graceful demeanor insured him a hearty welcome wherever he went, whether in the sick chamber or the drawing-room.
     The Doctor was fond of books, and was well posted in current literature; he was a most agreeable companion, indulging freely in anecdote and personal reminiscences, and had good conversational powers, though he made no pretentious as a public speaker.
     While a general favorite with the ladies, and fond of their society, and, at one time matrimonially engaged, he lived all his days in single blessedness.
     He was a lover of the fine arts, and of music especially; and many a leisure half hour was filled with sweet strains from his favorite instrument - the violin; and to his love of music, and to the encouragement he generously gave to resident professors and amateurs, our city is, in some measure. Indebted for its present high culture in music.
     And now, kind reader, would you have some glimpses to illustrate the dual character of poor human nature; to slow, side by side, its good and its bad qualities, in the life under review?
     Well-but no matter - 'tis enough to say that while the Doctor was not sinless, most of his faults were not of a malignant type, but rather of the kind that are said "to lean to virtue's side."
     But whatever they were, a most ungracious task it would be, to dwell upon their unpleasant memory; and the writer must ask to be excused, preferring, as he does, the reversal of the custom indicated in the following lines:

     "The evil that men do, lives after them;
      The good is oft interred with their bones."

     The Doctor was a member of the Masonic order.  In politics he was a Whig, and took a leading part in every campaign.  In 1846 he was the Whig candidate for congress, and, through defeated, had the satisfaction to know that he had run considerably ahead of his ticket.  Rodolphus Dickinson was his opponent.  David Tod was defeated for governor at the same election.
     Vigorous as his constitution naturally was, it had its limit of endurance.  Overtasked, mentally and physically, for thirty years, in a malarias climate, it is not surprising that his life was cut short, in his fifty-first year.  His end came not suddenly; the way to it was through long suffering, extending over a period of several years.
     Gradually, declining health induced him to try the effect of a milder  climate.  The winter of 1851-2 was spent in the south, visiting a brother and making the acquaintance of many of the leading medical men of that region.  With the return of the spring, however, there were no signs of returning

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health; and early in May, he set out for his loved home, stopping a few days in Richmond, to attend the meeting of the American Medical Association.
     The last year of his life was one of great suffering.  He died April 14, 1853.
     The immense multitude that attended his funeral was evidence of the sincere regard and affection of the community for which he had labored so long and faithfully.

DR. HENRY KUHN

Was one of the pioneer physicians in Tiffin, and took a very active part in the development of the town and country.  He was born in Frederick City, Maryland, in 1802, and attended the Frederick college, the oldest institution of western Maryland.  He was there so pious and attentive to his studies and so sedate as to have acquired from the teachers and school mates the soubriquet of "Bishop."
  After he left the college he read medicine in the office of Dr. Tyler, the leading physician of Frederick City, and finished under Dr. Henry Staley, in Frederick.  He graduated with the highest honors from the University of Maryland, at Baltimore, in 1825, and soon there after commenced the practice at Woodsboro, in Frederick county, near which place Lewis Baltzell lived.  Here he made the acquaintance of Catharine, one of the daughters of Mr. Baltzell, whom he married.  Of that union Mrs. William Holt, of Tiffin, and Mrs. Kate Toner, of Canton, Ohio, are the only children living.
     The exact time when the Doctor arrived in Tiffin I have not been able to ascertain, but it must have been in 1831.  I often heard him say that he helped to cut the first tree in Market street, between Washington and Monroe.  He was very popular in his younger days among his schoolmates and acquaintances.  His manly personal appearance, his dress and address, his family relationship and their position in society, all added to make the young doctor a distinguished character.  He came here into the woods and at once became the compeer of Drs. Dresbach and Carey, with whom he divided the practice among the scattered cabins for many miles around.  He was often called to visit the Wyandots, on the Sandusky plains, and became highly esteemed among the chiefs, of whom sum-mon-de-wat was a special friend, as already mentioned.  One time he was called to amputate the leg of a squaw.  She sat at the foot of a tree and fanned away the flies with a fox's tail during the operation, without a wince or a groan.  Whenever the Wyandots visited Tiffin they would call on the Doctor at his little frame office, on East Market street, and have a chat.  The old office is still standing back of the new jail, but unoccupied.

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     The father of Dr. Kuhn was for many years the most important and distinguished man in Frederick county.  He was the leader of the Republican (Democratic) party for many years (from 1798 to 1824).  He had read law But preferred farming.  He had 700 acres well stocked with slaves.  The abolitionists stole nine of them at one time.  Dr. Kuhn brought a slave boy to Tiffin with him.  He was a present from some friend.  I often heard Mr. Kuhn speak of him but have no knowledge of what became of him.  The name of Dr. Kuhn's father was Christian; his mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Browning, daughter of Jeremiah and Cassandra Browning.  The old folks, after they were eighty years of age, rode horseback to Steubenville, Ohio, where they bought a farm.  The old lady was highly intellectual and one of the most scholarly women in Maryland.  They were of English stock.  Christian Kuhn was a German, wealthy and popular.  He was the first mayor of Frederick City, and frequently a member of the general assembly of Maryland.  He traveled to the sessions in his own carriage.  He was then a leading spirit in roost all leading matters, and for many years held the office of chief judge of the orphans' court of Frederick county.
     Dr. Kuhn held his reputation in the esteem of the people and the profession up to his death.  Nature seemed to have made him for a physician, but with all his skill he had his weaknesses, too, like many other men.  His occasional indulgences in strong drink interfered materially with his practice, while his habitual indifference about his finances kept him poor.  He earned money enough in his profession to be one of our wealthiest men, but he seemed to set no value upon it.  He would become security for anybody that asked him the favor, and it was no lesson to him when he was compelled to pay.  He was warm hearted and generous, hospitable, sympathetic, benevolent, kind.  He could refuse no favor in his power to grant; never learned to say "no."  His wife died about 1843.  Sometime thereafter he married Miss Maria Pennington, a sister to Robert G. Pennington, of Tiffin.  This union was blessed with three children: Robert D. Kuhn, Mrs. Emma Kimball and Louisa, the late Mrs. Fast, of Canton, Ohio.  Mrs. Kuhn is still living.
     Dr. Kuhn attained to the highest honors in ancient Masonry and often represented the old Sandusky lodge in the Grange Lodge of Ohio.  He died at his residence on Clay street, in Tiffin, Oct. 16, 1878.

DR. ROBERT C. J. CAREY

Was a native of Maryland, and located in Fort Ball about the time Dr. Dresbach came here, and the two formed a partnership in the practice.

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They had their first office in the small yellow brick, on  Sandusky street, still standing.  Dr. Carey was considered a very good physician.  He was very polite, and neat about his person.  He died on the 9th day of November, 1836, aged 35 years, 11 months and 20 days.

DR. JAMES FISHER

     The subject of this sketch filled quite a space in public affairs in Tiffin, at an early day, both as a physician and as a man of energy and enterprise.
     He was born in Westminster, in Frederick county, Maryland, on the 1st day of January, 1801, and graduated at the Medical University of Maryland, in April, 1823.  He commenced practice in Abbottstown and Oxford, Pennsylvania.  After practicing a few years, he took a trip through the west and south and returned to Westminster in 1829, when he made the acquaintance of the family of Dr. Thomas Boyer, of Uniontown, Maryland, and especially that of the Doctor's daughter, Elizabeth M.  This acquaintance with this daughter ripened into their marriage, which took place in July, 1829.  The name of the other daughter was Mary R., who married Mr. Lloyd Norris.  Both couple were married on the same day, the Rev. Daiel Zollikoffer solemnizing the marriages.
     Dr. Fisher then practiced medicine at the Union Bridge, four miles from Uniontown, in a neighborhood of excellent people.  The families of Drs. Boyer and Fisher moved to Tiffin in 1832, where Dr. Boyer died in 1835; and Mrs. Boyer died here in 1847.
     Dr. Fisher held the postoffice here,  kept a drug store at an early day, practiced medicine, speculated in lands and handled a great deal of money.  In 1866 he removed with his family to Springfield, Missouri, where Mrs. Fisher's health declined; they never felt satisfied with the change; but their children were married and settled there and they remained.  Mr. Fisher died Sept. 19, 1878, and was buried in Maple Grove cemetery, having lived in happy wedlock with the Doctor 49 years.  She was a splendid lady, highly cultivated, kind and sociable.  They have four daughters: Hannah E., wife of Charles A. Wright; Mary E., wife of James Patterson; Laura, wife of Joe M. Steiner, and Pattie D., wife of R. L. McElhany, and one son, Thomas B. Fisher, all living.
     Dr. Fisher, at nearly four score, is still enjoying excellent health, but since the death of his wife, feels himself alone in the world.
     The family of Dr. Boyer was highly cultured and much esteemed.  The same air of old-style Maryland and Virginia aristocracy, mentioned

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on former occasions, was well marked in this family also, but here, as everywhere, it was always associated with politeness, kindness and broad and generous hospitality.
     Among the physicians practicing medicine in Tiffin at this time, Drs. J. A. McFarland (who located here in 1837), J. N. Heckerman, A. B. Hovey, H. B. Martin, E. J. McCollum, and S. S. Bricker are pioneers.  There are also in the practice now, Drs. W. Crawford, W. G. Williard, J. T. Livers, J. F. E. Fanning, J. P. Kinnaman, W. H. Hershiser, J. Breidinger, J. Huss, F. H. Lang, W. H. Stover, D. Wells, and Maurice Leahy.

SENECA COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.

     This is an auxiliary to the State Medical society, and is governed by the same code of ethics, but has its own constitution and by-laws.
     The state society was organized in a parlor of the old Neil house, in Columbus, May 14th, 1846; the first Seneca county society at Dr. E. Dresbach''s office in 1852.  Dr. McFarland was elected president, and Dr. George Sprague secretary.
     The present society was organized in one of the parlors of the Shawhan house, in Tiffin, on the 25th day of September, 1878, with Dr. A. B. Hovey as president, and Dr. A. L. Waugaman as secretary.  The society has its regular meetings on the fourth Wednesday of every month.
     Of the members of this society some minutes have been collected and are here noticed:

J. U. HECKERMAN

Was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Nov. 22d, 1825; graduated at Washington college in 1846, and located in Tiffin.

H. B. MARTIN

Was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, Nov. 15th, 1823; graduated at Charity Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1850.

F. W. SCHWAN.

Was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mar. 3d, 1843; graduated at Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1867.

E. W. SULLIVAN

Was born in Tiffin, Ohio, March 22d, 1856; graduated at the medical department of Wooster university in1878.

E. J. M'COLLUM

Was born June 10th, 1826, in Richland county, Ohio; graduated at the

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Jefferson Medical college, Philadelphia, in March, 1853, and soon thereafter located in Tiffin.

H. B. GIBBON

Was born March 12th, 1852, at Big Prairie, Wayne county, Ohio; graduated at the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Sugary in June, 1877, and located in Seneca county in July the same year.

J. B. BLAND

Was born in Muskingum county July 22d, 1840; graduated at Starling Medical college, Columbus, and located at Benton, Crawford county, in 1869.

L. E. ROBINSON

graduated at Rush Medical college, Chicago, in 1873, and settled in Republic in 1876.

BENJAMIN S. STOVER

Was born June 13th, 1856, at Brooklyn, Cuyahoga county, Ohio; graduated at Jefferson Medical college in 1878; located in Republic the same year.

W. H. PAUL

Was born in Richland county, Ohio, Apr. 14th, 1848; graduated at Miami Medical college, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1872; located in Adrian in 1876.

DR. ARIEL B. HOVEY.

Was born in Albany township, Orleans county, Vermont, Feb. 9th, 1829  When a boy fourteen years of age, he started for Ohio, and entered Oberlin college, where he remained six years, and during this time read medicine with Dr. Homer Johnson, in Oberlin.  In 1850 he entered the office of Prof. Ackley, in Cleveland, and graduated in March, 1852, and in the same year located in Tiffin, where he has remained ever since in the successful practice of his profession.  While Dr. Hovey is regarded as very able practitioner, he excels as a surgeon, in which branch his skill and courage have made him eminently successful and greatly celebrated.  He is a member of several state societies, as well as of the National Medical society.

MAURICE LEAHY

Was born Mar. 14th, 1853, in the county of Kerry, Ireland; graduated in the medical department of the 'Wooster university, in Cleveland, Ohio, Feb. 27th, 1878, and located in Tiffin in July, 1878.

JOHN D. O'CONNOR, M. D.

     Snow covered the earth; the air was very cold; the sky was overcast with heavy clouds; all nature looked gloomy and dreary, and so did

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the senate chamber of Ohio, when, at ten o'clock in the  morning of the first Monday in January, A. D., 1862, the senate was called to order.  The city of ..........................

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THE TIFFIN GAS LIGHT COMPANY

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THE OHIO STOVE WORKS

Amongst the various industries of the city may be mentioned the Ohio Stove works, a joint stock company, whose works are located near the Baltimore and Ohio depot.  The company is now well organized and in successful operation.

THE TIFFIN AGRICULTURAL WORKS

Is a joint stock company.  The works are located at the corner of Water and Minerva streets, where they cover an area of about four acres.  They have a capital stock of about $100,000, and the institution is under the control of efficient officers, and is in a flourishing condition.

THE TIFFIN WOOLEN MILLS

Are also in successful operation, now employing about seventy hands.

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THE TIFFIN CHURN FACTORY.

Organized by A. C. Baldwin & Co., is doing a good business; it prosecuted its work steadily during the late severe long panic, proving that the institution is in able hands.

LOOMIS AND NYMAN'S FOUNDRY,

Located near the bridge on Market street, started when, in 1847, they bought the old foundry then conducted by Jesse Wolf.  They afterwards bought the property where Van Nest's carriage factory stood, and erected valuable buildings on the premises.  The firm is now composed of John D. Loomis, Philetus Nyman and George Loomis.  They employ about 28 hands and turn out work annually to the value of $50,000.

THE TIFFIN MANUFACTURING COMPANY

Is also a joint stock company, doing a great deal of work, and in successful operation on Melmore street.

THE TIFFIN WATER WORKS

Were accepted by the council of the city in the fall of 1879.  There are about 14 miles of water pipes in the city.  The city pays rent for hydrants.
     There are now in Tiffin 26 grocery stores, 6 dry goods stores, 5 clothing stores, 8 boot and shoe stores, 1 carpet store, 6 millinery  and fancy stores, 5 jewelry stores, 4 drug stores, 4 fruit, confectionery and bakery stores, 3 hardware stores, 4 stove and tin stores, 2 hat and and cap stores, 2 china and crockery stores, 2 book and stationery stores, 3 furniture stores, 3 photograph rooms, 5 harness shops, 2 marble dealers, 4 cigar manufacturers, 6 printing establishments, 7 barber  shops, 8 meat markets, 5 blacksmith shops, 6 carriage and wagon works, 2 breweries, 3 wholesale liquor stores, 3 music stores, 6 hotels, 5 boarding houses, 1 plumbing and gas-fitting store, 2 pump shops, about 50 saloons, 2 bent works factories, 2 sash, door and blind factories, 1 foundry, 1 stove factory, 1 woolen mill, 1 churn factory, 2 shoe factories, the gas works, agricultural works and water works.
     There also three building loan associations in the city.  

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Is a new creation and fitting up a fine room in the market house building.  It was incorporated in March, 1880, and the following named persons are the officers of the institution, viz:

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     President - R. W. Shawhan
     Vice-Presidents - Mrs. W. P. Noble, Mrs. John D. Loomis
     Secretary - C. H. Cramer
     Treasurer - J. W. Chamberlain.
     Trustees - W. P. Noble, Francis Wagner, George G. Harriman, Miss Flora Cronise, Mrs. Laura B. Sneath, Mrs. Laura G. Bunn.

     There will be a public opening of the library on the 12th of May, 1880.
     One thousand, six hundred volumes of books are already collected.
     There are also two bent works in the city.  One on West Market street, owned by F. Smith, and the other on Water street, carried on by the Fishbaugh Brothers.  Both are doing successful business.
     There are also a number of brickyards in full operation, and a drain tile factory, carried on by John Heilman.
     Tiffin has also two flouring mills: one at the north end of the iron bridge, on Washington street, and the other on Mill street; the former runs by steam and the latter by water power; both in daily operation.
     Unable to give the exact amount I feel it safe to say that ore than five millions of dollars are invested in the various industries in Tiffin.

SENECA COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

     The pioneer legislatures of Ohio comprehended their missions fully and passed laws for the promotion of agriculture, for the protection of stock, to open roads to market, etc., etc.  And the manner in which Seneca county threw off her mantle of "native wild" and prepared the way for civilized life, proves the high order of the intelligence of her pioneer farmers.  First a cabin, then roads, then meeting houses and school-houses, then mills, and one improvement after another.
     On the 7th of June, 1833, the following notice was published in the Seneca Patriot:

     TO THE CITIZENS OF SENECA COUNTY - Notice is hereby given that a meeting will be held at the Court House, in the town of Tiffin, (they had no court house), in the county of Seneca, on the 28th day of June inst., for the purpose of organizing an agricultural society, to be entitled the Seneca County Agricultural Society, in pursuance of an act of the legislature, passed February 25, 1833.  By order of the Board of Commissioners.

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     It was not long, however, until the subject was agitated again, and now another notice was published as follows:

GOD SPEED THE PLOUGH

MR. JOHN D. LOOMIS

was born Nov. 3, 1811, in Osego county, New York and was raised in Cayuga county, same state.  He came to Ohio in 1839 and located in New Haven where he remained two years, and in 1847 removed to Tiffin, Ohio, where he remained ever since.  The firm of which he has been the head ever since its location, has not only constantly increased sine its location here, but has never been under the necessity of borrowing a dollar.

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MR. JOHN M. NAYLOR

 was born at Wooster, Ohio, on the 9th of December, 1822.  When a boy he became a clerk in a store in Wooster, then carried on by Messrs. Jacobs and Kanke.  This was in 1834.  In 1847 Mr. Naylor, in company with Mr. Harvey Howard, of Wooster, opened a hardware store in Tiffin, which they carried on here until 1851, when Mr. Howard sold his interest, in the store from that time was conducted in the name of Naylor & Pittenger up to 1855.  From that time to 1857 Mr. Naylor conducted the business alone, for three years, when he was joined by a brother, W. W. Naylor, and the firm was called Naylor & Bro.  This firm was continued to Mar. 4, 1866, when William W. Naylor died, and the immense establishment ahs ever since been carried on by Mr. Naylor alone.
     On the 11th day of December, 1849, Mr. Naylor was married on Cornelia, daughter of Judge Pittenger.  In 1857 he built the beautiful villa on Melmore street, where he still resides.  The mother of Mr. Naylor was a sister to Judge Musgrave, of Crawford county.  An uncle by marriage was Judge Dean, of Wayne county, and my esteemed friend, Judge E. V. Dean, of Ironton, Ohio, is a full cousin of J. M. Naylor.
     Mr. Naylor's life is a fine specimen of a self-made, successful career, based upon industry, economy, ability and honesty.  Ever busy, late and early, with a friendly word for everybody, it is a matter of perfect wonder where he ever found time to make himself master of history, civil government and universal geography.

HENRY GROSS.

HENRY GROSS.  In the outset of this enterprise, the writer intended to say as little as possible about the living, but to recall the past and present it to the reader in its true light.  Having unavoidably touched a few of the living, it would wrong the harmony of the work did I not also mention another distinguished Tiffinite, who, by his genius and skill, has won for himself a national reputation.
     Seneca county has not been slow in producing men of distinction in almost every department of life.  Our farmers are celebrated for having made Seneca county the first "wheat county" in Ohio; our mechanics are equal, at least, to the best of them; our lawyers and doctors are men of note; the nation found a president as near to Seneca county as possible; we have furnished the state with two state treasurers, one governor, one lieutenant-governor and came within 29,000 votes of furnishing another; we have sent four of our citizens to con-

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gress and three colonels to the war, with a fair prospect of sending another; the United States sent one of our citizens to represent her in China, and Pere Hyacinthe married one of our fair daughters.
     Henry Gross is the second son of Henry Gross, sen., mentioned in a former chapter.  He was born July 21, 1813.  When a boy he made himself busy in his father's gun shop and learned the use of tools.  As he grew up he formed a great taste for music and the fine arts, and while he acquired and mastered the gunsmith trade, became also an inventor.  He secured a patent for a breech-loading rifle, and, in company with Mr. Ed. Gwynn, started a factory.  In this, as in almost all his business undertakings, he allowed himself to be over-reached and proved to his friend that he was more of a genius than a financier.  He secured many patents on ingenious steel and iron works, time-locks on safes, etc.  While he was in the employ of the "Hall Safe and Lock Co.," in Cincinnati, for many years, he was sent for from very many places in the United States to open safes that by some accident had become fastened and nobody found to open them.  Mr. Gross traveled many thousand miles on missions of that nature, and never failed in any case.  He often astounded the by-standers in opening safes in a few minutes when others had worked for days.  It is safe to say that there is not a safe made anywhere that Mr. Gross cannot open in a very short time without knowing anything about the combinations.  Were it not for his high order of character and strict integrity, he would certainly be a dangerous man to run at large.
     Of his latest and best invention, the papers are full of praise, and a copy of an article that appeared in the Southern Merchant of November, 1879, is here added to show how Mr. Gross' genius is appreciated by other people, and not to have it said that William Lang runs wild with his love for old Seneca and his friends.
     But here is the article:
     In our occupation as journalists, recording the current events of the times - the affairs of governments and political movements, the evil doings of the criminal classes, the gyrations of society, the theatrical stellar attractions, the condition of the great manufacturing interests, the prospects of the growing crops, and the excitement in the great commercial marts, and the educational, religious, and aesthetical interests, it sometimes becomes our duty as well as pleasure to sing the praises of the great geniuses and thinkers who overcome the obstacles of nature and utilize her forces for the good, comfort and happiness of mankind - the men who have a keen appreciation of the disadvantages under which sorrowing humanity toil, and strive to attain happiness, and put forth their best energies to dissipate them.
     As one of this illustrious band we take pleasure in classing Mr. Henry Gross, of Cincinnati, Ohio, with whom we had a delightful and instructive

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interview, learning of his achievements in the various branches of the mechanic arts to which he has turned his attention and thoughts.  His name is familiar to almost every banker throughout the country as a skilled expert and the inventor of the finest time and permutation locks extant, and they will no doubt be pleased to learn that he has again come to their aid, promising them still further protection from the hands of lawlessness.
     We have neither time nor space to record all the incidents of his eventful career, devoted as it has been to many fields of inventive research, but we wish to speak somewhat limitedly of his later achievements in the construction of devices for the preservation of accumulated wealth, the reward of industry, from the natural and human enemies which beset the possessor- we mean his improvements in the construction of those trusty safeguards of the merchant and banker, the fire and burglar-proof safes and vaults, and the locks and bolt-work thereof.
     Mr. Gross has had the most intimate and varied experience in the construction of safes and locks during the past ten years, and as an expert has been invariably successful in exposing the weaknesses of safes put upon the market by their makers with the false claims to security.  As the result of this rich and varied experience, we are not therefore surprised that Mr. Gross has apparently reached the goal of excellence in this particular art, and we will take pleasure in speaking somewhat in detail of his various improvements.
     First and foremost he exhibits a burglar-proof safe for bankers' use, the door of which is guarded when closed by the most simple and compact bolt work, so constructed that it presents a resistive strength to fracture equal to five times that of any system of train bolts now in use, and this bolt work, with the locks to guard it, is operated by a massive invulnerable welded steel and iron disc, hung upon inner and outer bearings so truly and perfectly that it can be revolved like a top under the slightest pressure, while it is secured so strongly and closely in a corresponding opening in the body of the door that it would require tons of pressure or shock to remove it.  The more immediate cause that developed the necessity of this new department in safe construction lay in certain discoveries made by Mr. Gross  in the course of his expert occupation of opening safes whose locks had become deranged or the combinations lost by carelessness.
     He found by experimental test that the various spindles or arbors in common use, by means of which the locks and bolt work were manipulated, could be successfully assailed, so that he seldom consumed more than two hours, and usually about half that time or less, in utterly destroying them and entering the safe.  Feeling that such safes could not be conscientiously recommended to the public as burglar-proof, he devised the above described improvement, which entirely does away with the use of spindles or arbors, and with this disc arrangement the safe has then nothing passing through it, and the door and walls are solid alike.  Mr. Gross stakes his professional reputation on the merits of this invention, which only requires to be seen to be appreciated; its simplicity is apparent to everyone, and the practical man can readily see that the inventor has simply taken advantage of the best construction to secure maximum strength in the materials used.
     The locks employed to secure this safe are the result of much study, and

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are most admirably adapted to the purpose.  The time movement and permutation tumblers are closely connected within a space of two inches square, and perform all the functions of the ordinary bulky time and combination locks of ten times the size while possessing new features of convenience and security that will be readily appreciated by users.  Mr. Gross also finally presents a fire-proof safe, of excellent design and calculated per maximum efficiency in the protection of its contents from fire.
     All the inventions of Henry Gross, from his first "time lock," show the master's hand of genius, and now that he has practically demonstrated the excellent and invulnerability of the two last efforts of his skill, it is sincerely to be hoped that bankers, county treasurers, and those who use safes generally, will look at the merits of his make before they buy the productions of mendacious manufacturers, whose main merits consist in the liberal use of printer's ink.
     If Mr. Gross' executive and financial abilities were equal to his genius, he would have been a millionaire long since.

THE PRESS.

     The various newspaper enterprises that were established in Tiffin from time to time, the incidents connected with them, the political views they advocated, the questions that agitated the public mind from time to time, and the greater or lesser lights that figured on the affirmative and negative sides of these questions, the results obtained by the elections and all that and more, would make a very interesting book, and it is hoped some Tiffinite will some day take up the subject and write up a volume.
     A short history of these establishments in Tiffin, without comment, is all that is intended here.
     The first newspaper published in the county was the Seneca Patriot, E. Brown, editor and proprietor.  The little hand press upon which it was printed was procured from Mr. J. P. McArdle, who claimed it for that it was the first printing press brought to Ohio.
     The first number was issued August 4th, 1832.  Its motto was, "Constitutional Rights, Republican Institutions, and Union Forever."
     The paper came out as circumstances would permit.  Sometimes the editor was out of paper; sometimes out of ink.  Public patronage was not very good, and the notices and work from the county officials formed the principal part of his support.  The greatest trouble of all, however, was the triangular fight between the political parties.  The Patriot was the only paper in the county, and Mr. Brown undertook to accommodate them all, and secure custom from each.  He proposed, therefore, to devote a certain space of each paper to articles suitable to the ideas of each party, and headed them "Clay politics," "Jackson

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politics," "Wirt politics."  For awhile he abstained from taking any part and remained neutral, but the Whigs blamed him with partiality, sent in one communication after another, and he bore up with wonderful courage for a while.  Finally the thing got so pressing, and the anti-Masons so boisterous, that Mr. Brown lost all power of endurance, and finally, on the 27th of October, 1832, he came out in an editorial to declare his true position.  He could stand it no longer.  He complained of men of the three parties who were so unreasonable as to claim more than their share of the paper, and being refused, threatened tin injure the paper, etc.  He finally concluded by saying: "Should we be compelled to haul down our tri-colored flag, or to be more explicit, we shall undoubtedly hoist true American colors, and if we are driven from our positions we shall assuredly declare for Andrew Jackson and the Democratic party.
     Now the Whigs withdrew their patronage; Ebert and Mercer came out in an open card and refused to support the paper because it was no longer neutral.  Brown had gone over to the Jackson men.
     In the next issue the editor says: "From what has already transpired we are convinced we can never give satisfaction while we pursue the course first prescribed.  Party feeling is so much excited in this place, that jealousies will arise, and unpleasant measures will be taken, however just our cause may be."
     That settled it.  Mr. Elisha Brown sometime after took sick and died at Cincinnati.  His son, J. H. Brown, carried on the paper for a short time thereafter, and then sold the press and material to Mr. Alonzo Rawson.
     Before proceeding further in the history of the press, let us record such evidence as can be secured to preserve the  history of this old press, which is certainly very remarkable.  It was brought to Washington, Pennsylvania, by a Mr. Colerick, prior to the year 1800, from some place on the Atlantic coast.  It was removed from Washington to Wellsburg, Virginia, about the year 1820, by J. P. McArdle, who was a very polite and intelligent Scotchman, and lived with his family for a long time in Republic, where one of his sons, Ed. McArdle, still resides.  Mr. I. P. McArdle moved this press to Mount Vernon, Ohio, where he published the Register in 1816, and the above date of 1820 must be erroneous.  From Mount Vernon the press was removed to Clinton, and from there in 1827 to Norwalk...  Here it became the property of the Messrs. Browns, who took it to Sandusky City and brought it from there to Tiffin in 1832.
     The Seneca Advertiser, speaking of this old press one time, said:

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     "It must be acknowledged that this venerable press, in the service of half a century, has earned at least the reputation of a faithful herald of a noisy world.  It was no doubt emblazoned to the world the achievements of many an eminent statesman, and probably chronicled as they occurred the stirring events which gave our government its national existence.  Commencing its tour of pilgrimage upon the Atlantic coast, it has wound its way to the fancied 'far west.'  It is indeed a relic of other days.  He who would compare, at this day, that sturdy lever with the vast improvements made upon its like, since its first days, would behold one of the most astonishing and remarkable evidences of human  skill ever developed in any branch of scientific or mechanical invention."

     If this be the first press (and it undoubtedly was) that crossed the Alleganies, it should become the property of the west, and here be preserved to attest the improvements in the "art preservative of arts."
     Mr. Alonzo Rawson......................

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WILLIAM W. ARMSTRONG.

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THE "SENECA WHIG."

THE SENECA COUNTY PIONEER ASSOCIATION.

     The society should not be overlooked, though it did go into dilapidation by neglect.  After much talk and publishing notices in the newspapers of Tiffin, an organization was effected on the 22d of February,

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1869, at a meeting held in the city hall of Tiffin in conformity with the call hereto attached.  This notice was published only eleven short years ago, and already more than one-half of the signers have passed over the troubled ocean of life; but their names should be preserved.

A PIONEER ASSOCIATION - OLD FOLKS, ATTENTION!

     As one after another of the old settlers of Seneca county are leaving us, and their number is continually growing less, we express but a general wish when we call on you, the survivors, whom a kind Providence, has, in his mercy, spared up to this time, to meet with us at the next anniversary of Washington's birthday, February 22, 1869, at 10 o'clock A. M., in the City Hall, in Tiffin, for the purpose of organizing a Pioneer Association.
     We desire to preserve among the archives of the association , the names of the old settlers, both male and female, and incidents of frontier life in this county.  Let us meet and organize in the morning, adjourn for dinner, and spend the afternoon in social chat, listening to speeches, frontier anecdotes, etc.  We would also invite as many of other friends as can make it convenient to be with us; believing that to see the old "bushwhackers" together would afford them pleasure.

     The meeting was called to order by the Rev. John Souder, who

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called on the Rev. D. C. Howard to open the meeting with prayer.  Rev. John Souder was chosen chairman, and W. Lang, secretary; a constitution was adopted and permament officers elected as follows:
     For president, Dr. Henry Kuhn; for vice-president, Philip Seewald; for secretary, William Lang; for treasurer, Lyman White.
     Regular meetings were held for several years, which were highly interesting; for many of the old settlers related incidents of pioneer life in Seneca that were both pleasing and instructive.  No meetings were held since the death of Dr. Kuhn.

     The following is a list of the members, showing the time and place of birth, and time of location o each in this county:

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